A Promise Fulfilled
by risingfire17
Summary: Zach and Ray have escaped the dungeon, but Ray is losing blood and the authorities are fast approaching! Ray begs Zach to kill her before she dies. Easy enough, right? So why is Zack freezing up? Can Zack understand and overcome his hesitation, keep his promise to Ray, and still seize his freedom?


"Please, Zach..." Her voice was beginning to quiver; her bleeding body wouldn't hold out much longer. "While you still can…I don't want to die…by any hand…but yours." She glanced toward the knife balanced on her chest as she lay cradled in his lap. The knife he had just given her, even though he was to kill her mere moments away. It gleamed like new under the fresh moonlight, ready to rip into that pure pale skin.

As the building they had just escaped began to buckle, so too did Zach's stomach. Why the hell did he suddenly feel so sick, and now when he needed to act so quickly?

Ray was right. Any minute now, blood loss would take her life from him. What was more, the sound of sirens was fast approaching. If he didn't act now, he would finally be arrested and put to death for his previous murders. Well, that didn't seem worth all the hell he'd just gone through to escape that psycho place.

And what of Ray? If she made it that far, she'd be saved by a hospital. There was no telling what would happen to the suicidal orphan after that, but Zach suspected that she wouldn't like it. He scowled at himself for having that thought. Why the hell did it matter if she liked it or not?

All that mattered was their promise. Ray had gotten him out of that shithole. Thanks to her, Zach was no longer that damn priest's lab rat. Now it was time for him to hold up his end of the deal and end her miserable, pathetic, life, slip off into the night, and live once again debt-free. It was what she wanted. It was what he had wanted this whole time, for Christ's sake! So, what the hell, then, felt so damn…_off?!_

"God damn it! I TOLD you to give me a better expression than that! At least fucking TRY to smile so I can have some fun killing you!" For just a moment, Zach felt order return to his world. Of course, that was it! She needed to smile! Like those stupid ignorant fuckers who smiled at his suffering, the more he cried, the bigger the damn grin! Those smiles made killing fun! And after all the trouble he went through for that puny kid, she would make it fun for him! She had promised him a good smile! And the only things Zach hated more than smiles were liars. He wouldn't be lied to again…not by this child.

He began to sneer. "Come on, Ray, you can do it; after all, you're getting what you want. I'm a tool for your happiness. Use me all you want; doesn't that make you happy?! Come on now, use me all you want, but you keep your fucking promise, you give me this, damn it, before you…you…" _What? Leave? Is that what you were going to say? What the fuck, Zach? _"Fuck it! Just do it already, so we can get this over with!"

But Ray didn't give him that sickening grin he was craving, the one that got his blood rushing for a kill. Instead, her face melted from the usual icy emptiness that pissed him off, to a smile he had seen only once before, long ago. _Like that old man…._

"Thank you, Zach." Her voice too had lost its iciness, and not simply from blood-loss induced weakness. It was…what? Soft? Warm? Zach struggled to find the words to describe it. It reminded him of that old man, long ago, the only person Zach hadn't felt like killing. "You're the only one who…kept a promise…to me. I think now…I…hate liars too." Tears formed in her eyes. "Thank you…really…thank you."

And then she started to cough, those weak, light coughs that bring up blood right before death. They were almost out of time.

Zach's hand was shaking on the blade's handle, and his stomach was churning. Ray had cried. For him. No one had done that before. No one had ever needed him. He had no place in this world. He had stopped wanting one. Had he ever wanted one to begin with? He had been fine. Was it even really that bad in that priest's place? Sure, he was trapped, but he could kill anyone he wanted with no cops to stop him.

But then fucking Ray came along. Fucking weird girl who sewed mangled corpses back together as if they mattered anymore. Fucking weird girl who didn't run in fear from him like everyone else. Fucking weird girl who almost got herself killed to get him medicine. Fucking weird girl who cried and called out for him in her sleep. Fucking weird girl who…needed him. Had this psychotic brat given him a place to exist in this world? Would he still have one after she was gone? _Why? Why does any of that matter now?!_

Tears were streaming down his face and his body was shaking uncontrollably. He could see the police lights now, flashing on the street below. They were out of time.

_But even still…even still…I WON'T LIE TO RAY! _He picked her up and rushed back into the burning building, the blade clattering forgotten behind them. Already he could feel his skin peeling and his lungs gasping in vain, but still he rushed toward the fire. If this was the only way left to fulfill his promise to her, so be it. He wasn't even afraid anymore; memories of that man in the garage were washed away by Ray's tears, the ones just for him, leaving only her smile, the one he didn't hate.

He stopped in front of the flame and looked down at her. "Sorry, Ray, this is going to hurt you a bit more than I planned."

"'kay…but Zach…you…why?" Her eyes, though losing focus, were still distressed. For his sake, not her own. But Zach no longer had time to be bewildered by this. They were at the end. He brought her close and kissed her forehead. When he lowered her again, he smiled, hopefully as softly as she had.

"Because I want to. No lies. Just shut up and smile for me, will ya?" She leaned her head into his chest and smiled. That smile. The good one. That was enough.

He jumped into the flames, her head cradled in his hand, her body nestled against his. He shut his eyes, probably couldn't open them if he'd wanted to. The flames roared in his ears. He could no longer see or hear anything. All he felt was his body being eaten away, and in the last moment, nothing. He didn't know if he was screaming or not. He didn't know if he was dead or alive.

But he knew she was there. And that was enough.


End file.
